TOP-RANKED DUKE STAYS PERFECT WITH HOME WIN OVER NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA

USA Today, AP, Feb. 26 -- Seniors Alison Bales and Lindsey Harding led top-ranked Duke to its first unbeaten regular season. Now they're looking for something bigger -- a perfect postseason. ... Full story
--Also, (Raleigh) News & Observer: Devils First in ACC to Finish Perfect ... Full story
(Durham) Herald-Sun: Duke Caps Perfect Regular Season ... Full story
The New York Times, AP: An Ever-Expanding Tent at Duke ... Full story

DEPRESSION LINKED TO WORSE MEDICAL OUTCOMES

Herald-Sun, Feb. 26 -- A team of Duke University Medical Center and UNC researchers report that psychological depression appears to contribute to worse medical outcomes for patients with heart failure, ranking it in importance with such risk factors as high cholesterol, hypertension and even the ability of the heart to pump blood throughout the body. ... Full story

AMERICANS UNDERESTIMATE IRAQI DEATH TOLL

ABC News, Feb. 24 -- Christopher Gelpi, a Duke political scientist who tracks public opinion on war casualties, says a better understanding of the Iraqi death toll probably wouldn't change Americans' already negative public attitudes toward the war much. (AP story also appeared in The Guardian and more than 230 other news outlets.) ... Full story

CUSTOMERS HAVE DEJA VU AFTER JETBLUE CANCELS 68 FLIGHTS

Newsday, AP, Feb. 26 -- A light snowstorm that hit the New York City area created more anguish for JetBlue on Monday, leaving some Duke student passengers among those on one plane who were stranded on the runway for hours. ... Full story

OP-ED: MATCH ITEM WITH PATIENT

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 26 -- Dr. Kevin A. Schulman, a professor of medicine and business administration at Duke, shares his vision of an "active surveillance" system to bring medical safety into the 21st century. (This commentary also appeared in the Sacramento Bee.) ... Full story

OP-ED: THE CONSEQUENTIAL CASE OF JESICA SANTILLAN

News & Observer, Feb. 25 -- Jesica Santillan's story "opened a window on potent myths and inflammatory perceptions" surrounding immigration, health care and the heavily stressed organ transplant system, says Rutgers health policy professor Keith Wailoo. ... Full story

DUKE LACROSSE MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN

USA Today, Feb. 25 -- The lacrosse team's opening game Saturday was a triumphant return for the Blue Devils, whose season was canceled last spring amid allegations that touched off a debate on sports, race, class and privilege at the elite university. ... Full story
--Also, The New York Times: A Father and a Son Help Duke Start Anew ... Full story
Diverse Magazine: Duke's Devil of a Mess ... Full story
USA Today: Column -- Duke Lacrosse Case Has No Winners ... Full story
Duke News: Duke and Men's Lacrosse (special website with background information) ... Full story

RITUALS FOR RELEASE

Spirituality & Health, January/February 2007 -- Dr. Jeffrey Brantley, the founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at Duke's Center for Integrative Medicine, has co-authored two books on how five focused minutes can give you better days and more blissful nights. (Link to website; article faxed upon request to dukenews@duke.edu.) ... Website

ON THE AIR

Duke alumnus Steven Petrow, a writer and pioneer of online journalism, will be the guest on "The State of Things" Monday from North Carolina Public Radio. Petrow, now in the process of penning a memoir, says he spent much of his life running away from being gay. ... Details/listen